LOS ANGELES --Warner Bros. Entertainment will develop a theme park and hotel in the Persian Gulf emirate of Abu Dhabi as part of a multibillion-dollar alliance announced Wednesday.

The deal with real estate developer Aldar and the newly formed Abu Dhabi Media Co. also involves jointly owned movie theaters in the United Arab Emirates and a separate deal to produce Arabic-language movies.

The $500 million film fund will produce broad appeal films, with Warner Bros. retaining worldwide distribution rights, the company said.

Each side will contribute half of the investment.

Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., and the Abu Dhabi Media Co. will also create another $500 million fund to finance the production of video games. About 12 games are in development.

Warner Bros. Chairman and Chief Executive Barry Meyer said in a statement that the alliance will help the company extend its operations and brand throughout the region.

Warner Bros. will help develop and design the theme park, while Aldar will coordinate and oversee construction of the park and hotel. Groundbreaking on both properties is expected in 2009.

Warner Bros. International Cinemas will be responsible for developing, designing and managing movie theaters that Aldar will build.

Four theaters are initially planned for An Ruwais, Al Lain City, Yas Island and Central Market Development in Abu Dhabi. The theaters will be Warner Bros.-branded and feature some of the company's characters.

Warner Bros. Entertainment said the companies will explore deals in other areas, including production facilities, digital content distribution and retail opportunities in the region.

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The three companies announced a “long-term, multi-faceted strategic alliance” that covers a wide range of Warner Bros concerns, notably a fund for film and video game production and publishing.

“The studio had agreed to jointly finance a $500 million (Dh1.83bn) fund for making movies and a similar $500m fund for developing and publishing video games,” Chairman Barry Meyer was quoted as saying by Los Angeles Times.

The videogames part of the deal will be looked after by the Warner Bros Home Entertainment Group and will cover publishing and distribution rights for the company’s titles throughout the region.

The first games to be released under the agreement will be Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal for Xbox 360 and Duck Amuck for Nintendo DS.

Additionally, Warner Bros will discuss further with its new partners the opportunities that might exist for future areas of investment, including digital distribution of content.

Warner will receive hefty fees for licensing its iconic Looney Tunes and other characters and movie themes from its vast library to a planned theme park and hotel project.

Warner will help design the new park, while Aldar will oversee the construction of the park and hotel project, which is expected to break ground in 2009 and open in 2011.

Meyer said the latest venture will create the largest park Warner Bros had designed or built in terms of both financial commitment and acreage. Warner Bros has Movie World theme parks on Australia’s Gold Coast, in Madrid and in Bottrop, Germany.

This year, NBC Universal and Paramount announced licensing deals for new theme park ventures in Dubai.

Earlier reports said the venture will develop and produce “mutually agreed-upon, broad-appeal films” that Warner Bros will have the option to distribute internationally. Warner Bros will also work with Abu Dhabi Media Company to produce Arabiclanguage films for pan-Arabic distribution.

Film producer and executive Hunt Lowry will serve as the CEO of the company formed by this venture.

The Home Entertainment Group is also planning to work with Abu Dhabi Media Company to “build Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure for the development of new media and digital delivery systems”.

Eighteen months ago, when Hollywood was beating a path to the Middle East in search of investors, Warner Bros. thought it had struck oil. In September 2007, the studio signed a deal with companies owned by the Abu Dhabi government for what was later pegged at $1 billion to build a theme park and movie theaters and finance films together. Today the largest part of that deal—$500 million to jointly fund movie projects—has stalled.

Sources in Hollywood and the financial industry say that Abu Dhabi Media and the Time Warner-owned (TWX) studio are in talks to restructure their agreement but are not close to a resolution. The only movie Abu Dhabi has invested in under the deal is Shorts, a family film starring Jon Cryer and William H. Macy that is scheduled for release this summer. That movie was put into production shortly after the financing deal was announced. According to sources, the two sides haven't discussed new film projects in months.

Although unlikely at this point, Abu Dhabi could walk away from the film portion of the deal. "In light of the current economic climate, we are working with our partners in Abu Dhabi to ensure each company's business objectives are mutually aligned," Warner Bros. said in a statement. Officials from Abu Dhabi Media did not return phone calls or e-mails.
Studios are under pressure now

A revamping of the lucrative financial deal couldn't come at a more awkward time for Warner Bros. Last week the studio was the center of Hollywood buzz concerning its two top executives, Chairman Barry Meyer and President Alan Horn. The pair signed two-year extensions of their contracts, setting off speculation about succession and whether new executives might revamp the studio operation as Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has done at other units within the company. Bewkes praised Meyer and Horn in a Los Angeles Times article, saying the two executives are "at the top of their game."

A possible reduction in the $500 million financing—or its outright cancellation—would come just as the industry is facing tough challenges that include a prolonged slowdown in the lucrative DVD market. Under the deal, announced on Sept. 26, 2007, Abu Dhabi and Warner agreed to split 50-50 the financing of films, with Time Warner retaining its rights to a generous distribution fee. The films receiving funds were to be "mutually agreed upon," but sources say Warner had placed off limits its successful Harry Potter franchise. A separate deal would have allowed the two sides to invest in a slate of Arabic-language films, but that pact has seemingly stalled as well.

There are differing accounts as to what went wrong with the film deal. One source with knowledge of the ongoing talks says that because oil prices have fallen sharply in the last few months, Abu Dhabi is slashing capital-intensive projects and considers film production "low on the totem pole." Another source, however, says Abu Dhabi was concerned that it wasn't getting access to the best Warner Bros. projects, which were being offered first to some of the studio's long-standing financial partners, private equity firm Legendary Pictures and Australian film production company Village Roadshow.

Some non-movie projects have moved forward. Abu Dhabi, for instance, has invested in four video games, including one based on this year's film Watchmen. The two sides are building a pair of multiplex theaters they will jointly operate when opened in 2011. Two other movie complexes are currently being designed. But a hotel and theme park—which Warner Bros. plans to license to the Abu Dhabi-owned ALDAR real estate development firm—is being redesigned and won't break ground this year as planned.

Warner Brothers Abu Dhabi Theme Park can now be officially considered under construction. A construction fence has been erected and the first workers are on site:

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Construction works have commenced on the Warner Bros theme park in Abu Dhabi, it was announced on Wednesday, 15 July, 2015.

The theme park, due for completion by 2018, is situated on Abu Dhabi's Yas Island.

Warner Bros Entertainment signed a deal in 2007 with Abu Dhabi developer Aldar Properties and the Abu Dhabi Media Company to bring Warner Bros-themed project to the Middle East, Arabian Business reported.

The partnership includes the construction of a theme park comprising 19 different rides, a hotel and jointly-owned multiplex cinemas, and to form a joint venture fund to finance films and publish video games.

A spokesman for Warner Bros said initial work to prepare the Yas Island site for development was currently underway.

The spokesman said: “With our partners at Miral Asset Management, we have started initial development of the area on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island and expect the project to be completed in 2018," the report added.

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